Agartala, Feb 21 (IANS) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, on Saturday, chaired a high-level review meeting on reviving the long-closed Kailashahar Airport in Tripura’s Unakoti district headquarters, officials said.

An official of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that Chief Minister Saha during the meeting directed the Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials to revive the long closed airport and resume flight operations.

The Chief Minister asked the AAI officials to depute a technical and operational team for an on-ground assessment of the Kailashahar Airport, located nearly 140 km north of Agartala.

He directed for the early submission of a comprehensive feasibility study comparing Kailashahar, Kamalpur and Khowai Airports, including land availability and other constraints.

“The report has been sought to clearly outline commercial, technical and financial pros and cons of each option,” the CMO official said.

The review meeting examined the revival roadmap for Kailashahar Airport, which has remained closed for several years.

The Kamalpur and Khowai Airports also remained closed for few decades.

Senior AAI officials, including Gyan Batra, AAI (North Eastern Region) Executive Director; and Krishnamohan Nehra, Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport Director; attended the meeting and discussed steps needed for an early resumption of services.

According to the official, key issues deliberated included runway expansion, modern infrastructure development and capacity creation to handle larger aircraft such as Airbus types.

Chief Minister Saha said that, based on the feasibility report, the state government would take further steps in consultation with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and other concerned Ministries.

AAI officials informed the meeting that a technical team would soon visit Kailashahar to examine detailed operational and engineering aspects.

Both the state government and AAI agreed to work in close coordination to reopen the airport.

Transport Department Secretary Uttam Kumar Chakma and Transport Commissioner Subrata Chowdhury were also present at the meeting.

Agartala’s Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport is the second busiest airport in the Northeast, after the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati.

According to historian and writer Pannalal Roy, the land for Agartala, Kailashahar, and several other (now defunct) airports in Tripura was donated by the state’s erstwhile Royal family.

“During the Second World War, the then Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur supported the Allied powers, especially Great Britain, and deployed a contingent of the Tripura Army to assist them. During that time, airports at Agartala, Kailashahar, and other places were built to facilitate the Allied forces,” Roy, who has authored several books on Tripura’s royal history, told IANS.

He added that in 1943, Japanese fighter planes twice bombarded the Agartala airport, just along the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura.

–IANS

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